Information processing apparatus and information processing method

ABSTRACT

There is provided an information processing apparatus that controls a movable body that transports a user holding an entertainment ticket to and/or from an entertainment site where an entertainment is performed, the information processing apparatus including a control unit that executes: electronically reading the entertainment ticket held by the user; identifying the entertainment site associated with the entertainment ticket; generating an instruction for causing the movable body to move for transporting the user to the identified entertainment site; receiving picture data transmitted from the identified entertainment site; and providing a picture obtained by decoding the picture data to the user on board the movable body.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-027736 filed onFeb. 19, 2019 including the specification, drawings and abstract isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a service providing mobility.

2. Description of Related Art

There have been studies to provide services using movable bodies whichautonomously travel. For example, Japanese Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2015-092320 discloses a traffic system of allocatingself-driving automobiles in accordance with requests of users totransport freight and passengers.

SUMMARY

One can come up with a mode of transporting users to and/or from eventvenues (sites where entertainments such as sports and dramas are held)using movable bodies which autonomously travel. Under such a situation,not all the users visiting an event can arrive at the site by aperformance start time of the event.

The disclosure is devised in consideration of the problem above, and anobject thereof is to provide a movable body system capable of providingseamless amusement.

An information processing apparatus according to the disclosure is aninformation processing apparatus that controls a movable body thattransports a user holding an entertainment ticket to and/or from anentertainment site where an entertainment is performed, the informationprocessing apparatus including a control unit that executes:electronically reading the entertainment ticket held by the user;identifying the entertainment site associated with the entertainmentticket; generating an instruction for causing the movable body to movefor transporting the user to the identified entertainment site;receiving picture data transmitted from the identified entertainmentsite; and providing a picture obtained by decoding the picture data tothe user on board the movable body.

An information processing method according to the disclosure is aninformation processing method of controlling a movable body thattransports s user holding an entertainment ticket to and/or from anentertainment site where an entertainment is performed, the informationprocessing method including: electronically reading the entertainmentticket held by the user; identifying the entertainment site associatedwith the entertainment ticket; generating an instruction for causing themovable body to move for transporting the user to the identifiedentertainment site; and receiving picture data transmitted from theidentified entertainment site; and providing a picture obtained bydecoding the picture data to the user on board the movable body.

According to the disclosure, a movable body system capable of providingseamless amusement can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a movable body system according to anembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a movable body system according to anembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically, exemplarily showing componentsincluded in the system;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an appearance of an autonomous travelingvehicle 100;

FIG. 5A is a diagram exemplarily showing data used by the movable bodysystem;

FIG. 5B is a diagram exemplarily showing data used by the movable bodysystem;

FIG. 5C is a diagram exemplarily showing data used by the movable bodysystem;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing flows of data between the components ofthe system;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing in a first embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of processing in a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The term “entertainment” in the present specification denotes an eventheld at a specific site, such as a sport, a drama, a play, a concert, alive performance or a cinema. Such a site where the event is held iscalled an entertainment site. While in the following description, a termand a phrase of a “public performance” and “a performance begins” areused, these can be replaced by those for sport games or the like. Inthis case, the “public performance” can be replaced by a “game”, and“the performance begins” can be replaced by “a game starts”.

A movable body system according to an embodiment is a system fortransporting, with a movable body, a user to a site (entertainment site)where an event such as a sport, a drama or a cinema (entertainment) isto be held. Specifically, an information processing apparatuselectronically reads an entertainment ticket held by the user,identifies the entertainment site associated with the entertainmentticket, and after that, generates an instruction for causing the movablebody to move for transporting the user to the identified entertainmentsite. Even under such a situation, not every user visiting theentertainment site can arrive at the site by a performance start time.

In order to handle this, in the present embodiment, the movable bodyreceives picture data transmitted from the entertainment site identifiedwith the entertainment ticket, and provides it to the user on board inreal time.

The picture data is data including a picture signal for relaying thecontent of the entertainment. For example, when a sport game istargeted, pictures acquired by cameras installed on the field and ataudience seats are provided to the user on board the movable body. Whena drama, a cinema, a concert or the like is targeted, pictures acquiredby cameras installed in the site and at audience seats are provided tothe user on board the movable body. According to this mode, since theuser who is moving toward the entertainment site can watch the contentof the entertainment held at the entertainment site in real time, awatching experience seamless at the entertainment site and in thevehicle can be provided.

Moreover, the picture data may include a plurality of pictures, onchannels, captured by respective cameras installed at different areas inthe entertainment site, and the control unit may identify an area, inthe entertainment site, designated by the entertainment ticket, andextract a picture on a channel corresponding to the identified area fromthe picture data.

There can be a case where a seat or an area is designated by everyticket, depending on the type of an entertainment. By selecting apicture transmitted from a camera installed at the designated area, aview equivalent to that in the case where the user takes the designatedseat can be provided to the user.

Moreover, when the user returns from the entertainment site, the controlunit may acquire a time from user's leaving a seat to user's getting inthe movable body, and provide the picture to the user with a delay ofthe time.

According to such a configuration, even when the user leaves the seat inthe middle of the entertainment, the picture at the site can beseamlessly provided to the user. That is, the user can be allowed tomore flexibly make an action schedule.

Moreover, a storage that stores a plurality of addresses of servers thatdistribute the picture data may be further included, and the controlunit may connect to a server corresponding to the identifiedentertainment site.

First Embodiment

An outline of a movable body system according to a first embodiment isdescribed with reference to FIG. 1. The movable body system according tothe present embodiment is a system which transports a user who is goingto watch an entertainment to an entertainment site on an autonomoustraveling vehicle. Specifically, it includes a plurality of autonomoustraveling vehicles 100A . . . 100 n which autonomously travel, and aserver apparatus 200 which issues instructions to the autonomoustraveling vehicles. The autonomous traveling vehicles 100 areself-driving vehicles which provide predetermined services, and theserver apparatus 200 is an apparatus which manages the plurality ofautonomous traveling vehicles 100. The plurality of autonomous travelingvehicles are hereafter simply called the autonomous traveling vehicles100 when they are collectively called without being individuallydistinguished.

In the present embodiment, a user carries an electronic ticket forwatching an entertainment (hereinafter called an entertainment ticket),and gets in the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 using the electronicticket. The autonomous traveling vehicles 100 are multipurpose movablebodies which can individually have different functions, and vehicleswhich can perform automated driving and unmanned driving on roads. Theautonomous traveling vehicles 100 can be exemplarily any of courtesycars which travel on predetermined routes, on-demand taxis which areoperated in accordance with requests of users, mobile shops which can dobusiness at any destinations and the like, but in the presentembodiment, they are supposed to be share vehicles each of which cancarry a plurality of uses to move. Such autonomous traveling vehicles100 are also called electric vehicle (EV) pallets. Notably, eachautonomous traveling vehicle 100 is not necessarily an unmanned vehicle.For example, some operating staff, some security staff and/or the likemay be on board. Moreover, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 is notnecessarily a vehicle that can perform complete autonomous traveling.For example, it may be a vehicle which a person drives or assistsdriving depending on situations.

The server apparatus 200 is an apparatus which instructs the autonomoustraveling vehicle 100 to operate. In the present embodiment, when a userwho wants to move to an entertainment site transmits a pickup request tothe server apparatus 200, the server apparatus 200 selects an autonomoustraveling vehicle 100 that can pick up the user based on the pickuprequest, and transmits a transportation instruction to the autonomoustraveling vehicle 100. The transportation instruction is an instructionof allowing the user to get in and transporting the user to apredetermined entertainment site with respect to the autonomoustraveling vehicle 100. The transportation instruction may include, forexample, information regarding a place where the user is to get in,information regarding a time point when the user wants to get in, anidentifier of the user, information regarding the electronic ticket heldby the user, and the like.

In the present embodiment, the server apparatus 200 manages travelingpositions and traveling paths of the autonomous traveling vehicles 100,and processes pickup requests coming in real time. When receiving apickup request from a user, the server apparatus 200 generates atransportation instruction based on the pickup request, and transmitsthe transportation instruction to the autonomous traveling vehicle 100.Thereby, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 can be caused to come tothe place designated by the user and allow the user to get in.

Next, a mode in which the user gets in the autonomous traveling vehicle100 to move is described with reference to FIG. 2. The user havingissued the pickup request shows user's carrying an electronic ticket tothe autonomous traveling vehicle 100 and gets in the autonomoustraveling vehicle 100. The electronic ticket may be, for example,optically read or transmitted through short range wirelesscommunication. Moreover, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 may allowthe user to get in when the information included in the transportationinstruction coincides with the information read from the electronicticket. The autonomous traveling vehicle 100 having allowed the user toget in identifies the entertainment site where the user is going to gobased on the information read from the electronic ticket, generates atraveling path, and starts to move.

Entertainment site servers 300 are apparatuses which distribute thecontents of entertainments with pictures to the autonomous travelingvehicles 100. For example, when the entertainment is a drama, picturescaptured by cameras installed at audience seats are distributed. Whenthe entertainment is a sport, pictures captured by cameras installed ataudience seats and on the field are distributed. Notably, thedistributed pictures are not necessarily captured by cameras. Forexample, when the entertainment is a cinema, a picture source which isto be on screen may be directly distributed.

The autonomous traveling vehicle 100 identifies a server apparatus(entertainment site server 300) corresponding to the entertainment sitewhere the user is going to go, receives a picture distributed from theidentified entertainment site server 300, and provides it to the user onboard. The user thereby can watch the entertainment even in the case ofbeing late to arrive at the entertainment site for the time ofperformance start (game starting).

Next, a module configuration of each apparatus is described withreference to FIG. 3. The autonomous traveling vehicle 100 is a vehiclewhich autonomously travels based on the transportation instructionacquired from the server apparatus 200 and the information included inthe electronic ticket (hereinafter called ticket information).Specifically, it generates a traveling path based on the transportationinstruction and the ticket information, and travels on roads inappropriate manners while sensing the surroundings of the vehicle.Moreover, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 has a function ofproviding a picture received from the entertainment site server 300 tothe user on board.

The autonomous traveling vehicle 100 includes a sensor 101, a positionalinformation acquisition unit 102, a control unit 103, a drive unit 104,a communication unit 105, an image output unit 106 and an input-outputunit 107. The autonomous traveling vehicle 100 operates with electricpower supplied from a not-shown battery.

The sensor 101 is means for sensing the surroundings of the vehicle, andtypically includes any of a laser scanner, a LIDAR, a radar and thelike. The information acquired by the sensor 101 is transmitted to thecontrol unit 103. Moreover, the sensor 101 may include a camera providedon the body of the autonomous traveling vehicle 100. For example, animage sensor can be used, such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs), ametal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) or a complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS). Notably, a plurality of cameras may beprovided at places on the vehicle body. For example, such cameras may beinstalled at a front portion, a rear portion and right-and-left lateralportions.

The positional information acquisition unit 102 is means for acquiring acurrent position of the vehicle, and typically includes a GPS receiverand the like. The information acquired by the positional informationacquisition unit 102 is transmitted to the control unit 103.

The control unit 103 is a computer which controls the autonomoustraveling vehicle 100 based on the information acquired from the sensor101. The control unit 103 is configured, for example, of amicrocomputer.

The control unit 103 has, as functional modules, an operation plangeneration unit 1031, an environment detection unit 1032, a travelingcontrol unit 1033 and a picture providing unit 1034. Each functionalmodule may be realized by executing, with a central processing unit(CPU), a program stored in storage means such as a read-only memory(ROM), these not shown in the figure.

The operation plan generation unit 1031 generates an operation plan ofthe vehicle based on the transportation instruction acquired from theserver apparatus 200 or the read ticket information. In the presentembodiment, the operation plan is data in which operation of the vehicleis planned, and can exemplarily include the following data.

(1) Data indicating the traveling path of the vehicle: A path on whichthe vehicle is to travel may be generated, for example, automaticallybased on given departure place and destination by referring to map datastored in not-shown storage means. The departure place and thedestination can be generated, for example, based on the acquiredtransportation instruction or ticket information. Notably, the travelingpath may be generated using an external service.

(2) Data indicating processes to be performed by the vehicle at placeson the path: The processes to be performed by the vehicle canexemplarily include “to allow a person to get in or get off”, “toprovide guidance to the user on board”, and “to collect data”, but arenot limited to these. The operation plan generated by the operation plangeneration unit 1031 is transmitted to the traveling control unit 1033mentioned later.

The environment detection unit 1032 detects an environment around thevehicle based on the data acquired by the sensor 101. Targets to bedetected can exemplarily include the number and positions of lanes, thenumber and positions of vehicles existing around the vehicle, the numberand positions of obstacles existing around the vehicle (such aspedestrians, bicycles, structures and buildings), the structure of theroad, traffic signs, and the like, but are not limited to these. Theremay be any types of detection targets as long as they are needed forautonomous traveling. Moreover, the environment detection unit 1032 maytrack an object detected. For example, a relative speed of the objectmay be obtained from a difference between current coordinates of theobject and coordinates of the object detected one step before. The dataregarding the environment detected by the environment detection unit1032 (hereinafter called environmental data) is transmitted to thetraveling control unit 1033 mentioned later.

The traveling control unit 1033 controls traveling of the vehicle basedon the operation plan generated by the operation plan generation unit1031, the environmental data generated by the environment detection unit1032, and the positional information of the vehicle acquired by thepositional information acquisition unit 102. For example, it causes thevehicle to travel along a predetermined path such that an obstacle doesnot enter a predetermined safety area with the vehicle as its center. Amethod of causing the vehicle to autonomously travel can employ a knownmethod.

The picture providing unit 1034 identifies the entertainment site basedon the read ticket information, receives and decodes the picture datatransmitted from the corresponding entertainment site server 300, andprovides it to the user. The picture providing unit 1034 provides thepicture transmitted from the entertainment site server 300 to the uservia the image output unit 106 mentioned later.

The drive unit 104 is means for causing the autonomous traveling vehicle100 to travel based on the instruction generated by the travelingcontrol unit 1033. The drive unit 104 exemplarily includes a motor andan inverter for driving wheels, a brake, a steering mechanism, asecondary battery and the like. The communication unit 105 iscommunication means for connecting the autonomous traveling vehicle 100to a network. In the present embodiment, it can communicate with anotherapparatus (for example, the server apparatus 200) via the network usinga mobile communication service such as 3G or LTE. Notably, thecommunication unit 105 may further include communication means forperforming inter-vehicle communication with the other autonomoustraveling vehicles 100.

The image output unit 106 is means for providing a picture to the useron board. In the present embodiment, the autonomous traveling vehicle100 has a display apparatus as shown in FIG. 4 in the vehicle cabin, andcan output an arbitrary image. The display apparatus may be a liquidcrystal display apparatus or may be a head mounted display apparatus orthe like.

The input-output unit 107 is means for interacting with the user.Specifically, it is configured of means for reading the electronicticket held by the user and means for providing information to the user.Notably, the electronic ticket may be read through wirelesscommunication or optically using a two-dimensional bar code or the like.When the electronic ticket is physically read, the reading means may beprovided, for example, near a platform of the vehicle or near a seatthereof.

Next, the server apparatus 200 is described. The server apparatus 200 isan apparatus which manages traveling positions and traveling paths ofthe plurality of autonomous traveling vehicles 100 and generatestransportation instructions to the autonomous traveling vehicles 100.For example, when receiving a pickup request from a user, the serverapparatus 200 specifies a pickup place, after that, selects anautonomous traveling vehicle 100 that is traveling nearby (that canfunction as a courtesy vehicle), and transmits a transportationinstruction to the vehicle.

The server apparatus 200 includes a communication unit 201, a controlunit 202 and a storage unit 203. The communication unit 201 is acommunication interface, similar to the communication unit 105, forcommunicating with the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 via the network.

The control unit 202 is means for conducting control of the serverapparatus 200. The control unit 202 is configured, for example, of aCPU. The control unit 202 includes, as functional modules, a vehicleinformation management unit 2021 and a transportation instructiongeneration unit 2022. Each functional module may be realized byexecuting, with the CPU, a program stored in storage means such as aROM, these not shown in the figure.

The vehicle information management unit 2021 manages the plurality ofautonomous traveling vehicles 100 under the control. Specifically, forevery predetermined cycle, it receives positional information, pathinformation and event information from the plurality of autonomoustraveling vehicles 100, and associates them with the date and time tostore them in the storage unit 203 mentioned later. The positionalinformation is information indicating current positions of theautonomous traveling vehicles 100, and the path information isinformation regarding paths on which the autonomous traveling vehicles100 are scheduled to travel. The event information is informationregarding events arising on the autonomous traveling vehicles 100 inservice (for example, users' getting in and getting off, arrival atdestinations, and the like).

Moreover, the vehicle information management unit 2021 holds and updatesdata regarding characteristics of the autonomous traveling vehicles 100(hereinafter called vehicle information) as needed. The vehicleinformation exemplarily includes identifiers, purposes and types, doortypes, body sizes, loading capacities, passenger capacities, distancesdrivable to empty from full charge, distances currently drivable,current statuses (waiting, vacant, occupied, traveling, in service andthe like), and the like of the autonomous traveling vehicles 100, butmay include others.

In the present embodiment, the pickup request is information including adesired pickup place and a desired pickup time. The pickup request isacquired, for example, from the user via the network. Notably, a sourcewhich transmits the pickup request is not necessarily an ordinary userbut, for example, may be a company operating the autonomous travelingvehicles 100, or the like.

When externally receiving the pickup request, the transportationinstruction generation unit 2022 determines the autonomous travelingvehicle 100 that allows the user to get in, and generates thetransportation instruction to be transmitted to that autonomoustraveling vehicle 100.

The storage unit 203 is means for storing information, and is configuredof a storage medium such as a RAM, a magnetic disk and a flash memory.

Next, the entertainment site servers 300 are described. Theentertainment site servers 300 are server apparatuses installed forindividual entertainment sites, and apparatuses which capture picturesof entertainments held at the entertainment sites, such as games, dramasand concerts, and distribute the pictures. Upon receiving a request fromthe autonomous traveling vehicle 100, the entertainment site server 300distributes the designated picture to the autonomous traveling vehicle100.

The entertainment site server 300 has a communication unit 301, acontrol unit 302 and a picture acquisition unit 303. The communicationunit 301 is a communication interface, similar to the communication unit201, for communicating with the autonomous traveling vehicles 100 viathe network.

The control unit 302 is means for conducting control of theentertainment site server 300. The control unit 302 is configured, forexample, of a CPU. The control unit 302 executes a function ofdistributing a picture acquired by the picture acquisition unit 303mentioned later via the network. The function may be realized byexecuting, with the CPU, a program stored in storage means such as aROM.

The picture acquisition unit 303 is means for acquiring a picture signalcaptured by one or more cameras installed on the field and at audienceseats. When a plurality of cameras are installed at the entertainmentsite, the picture acquisition unit 303 may acquire a plurality ofpicture signals. The picture signal acquired by the picture acquisitionunit 303 is converted into the picture data by the control unit 302 tobe distributed via the network. Notably, when the picture acquisitionunit 303 can acquire a plurality of picture signals, a plurality ofpictures on channels may be integrated into one data stream.

Next, processing performed by the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 thathas allowed the user to get in is specifically described. FIG. 5Aexemplarily shows ticket information readable from the electronic ticketheld by the user. The ticket information includes an ID for uniquelyidentifying the user, an ID for uniquely identifying the entertainmentsite, information regarding a seat reserved for the user, informationregarding an area where the seat exists (for example, a first-base sideseat, a third-base side seat, a special seat (S-seat), an ordinary seat(A-seat), or the like), a performance start time, and the like. Theticket information may include information for authenticating the userabout to get in.

When the user gets in the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 and allowsthe electronic ticket to be read, the operation plan generation unit1031 specifies a destination based on the entertainment site ID includedin the ticket information, and prestored entertainment site information,and generates a traveling path to reach the destination. FIG. 5Bexemplarily shows the entertainment site information stored in theautonomous traveling vehicle 100. The information includes the ID foruniquely identifying the entertainment site, a name and an address ofthe entertainment site, positional information of a facility or a porch,and the like. The operation plan generation unit 1031 generates thetraveling path based on the entertainment site information andseparately acquired map data.

When it is past the performance start time while the user is on board,the picture providing unit 1034 specifies the entertainment site server300 based on the identified entertainment site ID and prestored picturesource information, and receives picture data distributed from thatentertainment site server 300. FIG. 5C exemplarily shows the picturesource information stored in the autonomous traveling vehicle 100. Theinformation includes the ID for uniquely identifying the entertainmentsite, an area, an address of a server apparatus, a camera number, andthe like.

The picture providing unit 1034 selects the corresponding picture source(server) based on the entertainment site ID and the area included in theticket information, and receives the picture data. Notably, when aplurality of cameras are installed at the entertainment site, bydesignating the corresponding camera number, the corresponding picturecan be extracted from the received picture data. The extracted pictureis converted into a picture signal to be provided to the user via theimage output unit 106.

Next, processing performed by each element constituting the system isdescribed. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining dataflows until the serverapparatus 200 generates the transportation instruction based on thepickup request transmitted from the user and the autonomous travelingvehicle 100 starts to operate.

The autonomous traveling vehicle 100 periodically transmits thepositional information, the path information and the event informationto the server apparatus 200. Notably, the positional information and thepath information are transmitted every time with the elapse of time. Theevent information is transmitted at the occurrence of an event (forexample, user's getting in or getting off, or the like) as a trigger.The server apparatus 200 (vehicle information management unit 2021)having received these pieces of information stores, in the storage unit203, the received pieces of information in association with anidentifier of the autonomous traveling vehicle 100. Notably, thepositional information is not necessarily positional information of anode. For example, it may be information for specifying a node or alink. Moreover, a link may be divided into a plurality of sections.Moreover, a road network is not necessarily represented by nodes andlinks.

When the user transmits the pickup request to the server apparatus 200(step S11), the server apparatus 200 (transportation instructiongeneration unit 2022) selects the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 basedon the pickup request by the aforementioned method (step S12). Then, thetransportation instruction is generated for the selected autonomoustraveling vehicle 100 (step S13). The transportation instructionexemplarily includes information regarding the user, a pickup placewhere the user wants to get on, a desired pickup time, and the like. Instep S14, the transportation instruction generation unit 2022 transmitsthe transportation instruction to the targeted autonomous travelingvehicle 100. Moreover, a response including an affirmative or a negativeof pickup, a pickup place, a scheduled arrival time, and the like istransmitted to the user.

In step S15, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 (operation plangeneration unit 1031) generates the operation plan based on the receivedtransportation instruction. For example, when the autonomous travelingvehicle 100 is not in service, it generates an operation plan ofallowing the user to get in at the predetermined pickup place and goingtoward the predetermined entertainment site based on the read ticketinformation. When the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 is in service, itmodifies an operation plan that have been already determined, forallowing the user who wants to get in to get in anew. The generated ormodified operation plan is transmitted to the traveling control unit1033. Upon this, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 starts to move.

When the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 arrives at the placedesignated by the user, the traveling control unit 1033 allows the userto get in and performs processing of reading the electronic ticket.Thereby, a new operation plan for transporting the user to thepredetermined entertainment site is generated.

Next, processing of providing a picture to the user who has got in isdescribed. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing performed by theautonomous traveling vehicle 100 (picture providing unit 1034) when theuser gets in the autonomous traveling vehicle 100. The flowchart startsin timing when the ticket information is acquired and the vehicle startsto move.

First, in step S21, the performance start time included in the ticketinformation and the current time are compared with each other, anddetermines whether or not it is past the performance start time. Herein,in the case of negative determination, the process proceeds to step S24mentioned later. In the case of affirmative determination, thecorresponding picture source is selected in step S22. Specifically, thetargeted picture source is selected from the picture source informationshown in FIG. 5C based on the entertainment site ID and the areaincluded in the ticket information. Then, in step S23, the autonomoustraveling vehicle 100 connects to the entertainment site server 300 andstarts to receive the picture. The received picture is provided to theuser via the image output unit 106.

In step S24, it is determined whether or not the autonomous travelingvehicle 100 arrives at the entertainment site. Herein, in the case ofnegative determination, the process proceeds to step S21. In the case ofaffirmative determination, information is provided to the user on boardbased on the ticket information. For example, guidance on an entrance ofthe site, guidance to the area, guidance to the reserved seat, and thelike are generated and provided to the user via the image output unit106 or the input-output unit 107. Notably, information for such guidance(directory of the site, or the like) may be included in the ticketinformation or may be externally acquired.

As described above, the movable body system according to the presentembodiment can transport the user to the entertainment site based on theinformation acquired from the electronic ticket held by the user who isgoing to go to the entertainment site. Moreover, since it can providerelayed pictures of the entertainment in real time to the user in thevehicle, the user can flexibly make an action schedule withoutrestriction of the performance start time.

Second Embodiment

For the first embodiment, a mode of transporting a user who is going togo to an entertainment site has been exemplarily presented. Meanwhile, asecond embodiment is an embodiment of transporting a user who is toleave an entertainment site in the middle of a public performance.

In the second embodiment, the ticket information includes informationfor designating a place where the user who is leaving to home is goingto get off the autonomous traveling vehicle 100. Moreover, when theelectronic ticket is read at the entertainment site included in theticket information, the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 starts to movefor sending the user. That is, it generates a traveling path in whichthe entertainment site is the departure place and a designated placewhere the user is going to get off is the destination, and generates anoperation plan of transporting the user on the traveling path.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of processing performed by the autonomoustraveling vehicle 100 (picture providing unit 1034) in the secondembodiment. The flowchart starts in timing when the ticket informationis acquired from the user to leave the entertainment site and thevehicle starts to operate.

First, in step S31, a timelag from user's leaving the seat to user'sgetting in the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 is acquired. Timing whenthe user leaves the seat can be acquired, for example, from a terminalheld by the user (hereinafter called a user terminal). For example, whenan application program for accepting issuance of the electronic ticketis operating on the user terminal, the timing when the user leaves theseat can be reported to the autonomous traveling vehicle 100 via theapplication program. A process in step S32 is similar to that in stepS22 and its description is omitted.

When the user leaves the seat in the middle of the public performance,the user cannot watch the public performance between the time of leavingand the time of getting in the autonomous traveling vehicle 100.Therefore, in the second embodiment, the picture providing unit 1034accumulates the picture for a predetermined period, and when the pictureis provided to the user in step S33, provides it to the user with anaddition of the timelag determined in step S31. For example, when ittakes 10 minutes to get in from leaving, the picture is provided to theuser with a delay of 10 minutes.

According to the second embodiment, even after the user leaves the seatin the middle of the public performance, the picture at the site can beseamlessly provided to the user. That is, the user can more flexiblymake an action schedule.

Modification

The embodiments above are merely exemplary, and the disclosure can beproperly modified and implemented without departing from the scope andspirit thereof. The processing and means described in the presentdisclosure can be freely combined and implemented as long as they do nottechnically conflict.

Moreover, a process that has been described as being performed by oneapparatus may be shared and performed by a plurality of apparatuses.Meanwhile, processes that have been described as being performed bydifferent apparatuses may be performed by one apparatus. What kind ofhardware configuration (server configuration) realizes each function inthe computer system can be flexibly modified.

The disclosure can also be realized by supplying a computer program inwhich the functions described for any of the embodiments above areimplemented to a computer and reading and executing the program with oneor more processors included in the computer. Such a computer program maybe provided to the computer via a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium connectable to a system bus of the computer, or may beprovided to the computer via a network. Examples of the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium include any types of disks and discssuch as magnetic disks (floppy (R) disks, hard disk drives (HDDs) andthe like), and optical discs (CD-ROMs, DVD discs, Blu-ray discs and thelike), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM,an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, and anytypes of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus that controlsa movable body that transports a user holding an entertainment ticket toand/or from an entertainment site where an entertainment is performed,the information processing apparatus comprising a control unit thatexecutes: electronically reading the entertainment ticket held by theuser; identifying the entertainment site associated with theentertainment ticket; generating an instruction for causing the movablebody to move for transporting the user to the identified entertainmentsite; receiving picture data transmitted from the identifiedentertainment site; and providing a picture obtained by decoding thepicture data to the user on board the movable body.
 2. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the picture dataincludes a plurality of pictures, on channels, captured by respectivecameras installed at different areas in the entertainment site; and thecontrol unit identifies an area, in the entertainment site, designatedby the entertainment ticket, and extracts a picture on a channelcorresponding to the identified area from the picture data.
 3. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when theuser returns from the entertainment site, the control unit acquires atime from user's leaving a seat to user's getting in the movable body,and provides the picture to the user with a delay of the time.
 4. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a storage that stores a plurality of addresses of serversthat distribute the picture data, wherein the control unit connects to aserver corresponding to the identified entertainment site.
 5. Aninformation processing method of controlling a movable body thattransports a user holding an entertainment ticket to and/or from anentertainment site where an entertainment is performed, the informationprocessing method comprising: electronically reading the entertainmentticket held by the user; identifying the entertainment site associatedwith the entertainment ticket; generating an instruction for causing themovable body to move for transporting the user to the identifiedentertainment site; receiving picture data transmitted from theidentified entertainment site; and providing a picture obtained bydecoding the picture data to the user on board the movable body.